This land, a mainly overgrown long narrow strip between Mill Road and the railway cutting, has been the subject of several previous applications for residential use. Permission was granted for housing in October 2013 and for student accommodation in November 2015, neither of which has been implemented.

The Society would have preferred this site to remain as railwayside wildlife corridor, but in view of the two previous permissions and the pressure for housing development sites, this is no longer practical. However, the present proposal appears to be excessive, creates additional parking problems in an already difficult road and fails to include undertakings to leave a part of the site as a wildlife reserve with funds for its maintenance.

For these reasons, the Society has suggested refusal of the application in its present form.